How ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ mirrors the social media age

To me, Wilde’s novel articulates the deepest anxieties of the late Victorians and continues to offer us ways to interpret our own experiences.
16 October 2022, 09:42 AM

Kathaprokash celebrates author Mashrur Arefin's work

Four of Arefin’s novels have been published so far, alongside three books of poetry and critically acclaimed translations of the Iliad and of Kafka’s short stories. 
16 October 2022, 06:13 AM

Love, fate, and age-old curses: 'The Book of Magic' by Alice Hoffman

The familial bond portrayed in the novel makes it easy to sympathise with the characters and they rarely seem woven in a piece of fiction; rather, their attributes are more lifelike and one may just find someone like Franny or Gillian Owens among their kith and kin.
15 October 2022, 13:00 PM

“No Home or Land, No Country, No Earth”: Plight of the Refugees

“War is vast. It reaches across the horizon, loftier and older than peace. Killing came before war, but it might also be that refuge preceded war.
14 October 2022, 18:00 PM

Fakir Lalon Shah: A Lighthouse in the Unreal Bazaar of the Blind

He spoke of women on equal terms at a time when women were not even people in the country where he lived (and they still are not—neither in the land of Lalon nor in the world that we proudly claim as ours.
14 October 2022, 18:00 PM

10th Dhaka Lit Fest will include Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pamuk and Abdulrazak Gurnah

After a two year hiatus caused by Covid-19, the 10th edition of the Dhaka Literary Festival will take place from January 5-8, 2023, at the capital’s Bangla Academy.
14 October 2022, 12:58 PM

Rahitul Islam's novels reflect Digital Bangladesh

A portion of the donation has been given to Sanjida Akter of Natore for the treatment of her eyes. Akter was the victim of an acid attack in November last year. 
14 October 2022, 09:00 AM

UPL releases 21st edition of Akbar Ali Khan’s ‘Porarthoporotar Orthoniti’

“Its insights into history and realism make it as enjoyable to the reader as it is deep into the subject”, UPL stated about the 21st edition of Porarthoporotar Orthoniti. 
13 October 2022, 10:43 AM

Thus, we bid goodbye to Gabo and Mercedes

Gabriel Garcia Marquez once famously said, “All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.”
12 October 2022, 18:00 PM

Dhaka Comics' 'Protibastob' is a big step forward in our comic book industry

The 22 stories are written by popular, contemporary writers with big names such as Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Ahsan Habib, and Mehedi Haque.
12 October 2022, 18:00 PM

‘Sultana’s Dream’ in new Penguin Classics edition and audiobook

The Penguin Classics edition of Sultana’s Dream and Padmarag comes in a paperback, ebook, and as an audiobook narrated by Priya Ayyar, a television and film actor and award-winning audiobook narrator with a BFA and MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
12 October 2022, 11:43 AM

Debunking the myth of the bestsellers

Despite the exclusivity of the title, bookstores are flooded with "number one bestsellers".
11 October 2022, 15:00 PM

Nobel Prize: Thomas Hardy lost to Tagore, Tarashankar to Neruda

As the Nobel Prize authorities recently declassified the list of nominees and nominators for the for the Nobel Prize of several years, a wealth of information tumbled out.
11 October 2022, 07:04 AM

Old sins cast long shadows: A vivisection of communal harmony as Puja ends

We can’t just wish things away, we can’t disown parts of our culture and country because they don’t fit our particular ideal. That is a cop-out, an easy way out, that is claiming we are pristine, and the dirt lives elsewhere, claiming we are saints and that is not our sin. 
8 October 2022, 10:31 AM

“Winter Night Ghost Stories”

Winter nights are surely the best time for ghost stories or tales of spirits returning from the dead. This year, The Daily Star is preparing for some chilling winter night haunting.
7 October 2022, 18:00 PM

Alice Beck Kehoe’s Girl Archaeologist and gender relations in US society

Alice Beck Kehoe (1934-) is a family friend, and I have her permission to use her first name in short for this essay. After reading Alice’s autobiography Girl Archaeologist: Sisterhood in a Sexist Profession (2022), Raudah, my wife, recommended the book to me with confidence that I would love it.
7 October 2022, 18:00 PM

A Transgenerational Quest for Identity in Tahmima Anam’s Bengal Trilogy

Tahmima Anam, the Bangladesh-born British writer, is known at home and abroad for her spontaneous and vivid writing style. She is widely distinguished as a novelist and columnist with a profound awareness of her native and international culture.
7 October 2022, 18:00 PM

SHOUTxDS Books ‘Slam Poetry Nights’ returns with gusto

Nineteen performers recited poems in Bangla and English, their topics ranging from nostalgia, personal growth and daydreams to mental health, death, and trauma.
6 October 2022, 15:47 PM
6 October 2022, 15:46 PM

Your favourite fictional blackout companions

“Free light source plus [a] dude I can sit and ruminate with, it’s perfect.” 
6 October 2022, 10:12 AM